Play It Out
by Dannemund
Summary: Jacky figures out her place in the wasteland with the help of everyone's favorite jerk, Jericho. Various adventures of the two up to the end of the base game. Rated M for Bad Karma LW and Jericho of course. (Explosions! Sex! Chaos!)
1. The Kid

Note: Thought I was working on a sequel to NOG and MIO but then this came along... Lots LOTS **LOTS** of cursing. Ah, Jericho.

* * *

Jericho was standing up on the railing, looking out over the shit heap that made up Megaton, when he noticed the kid. Sneaky little thing, couldn't have been more than fourteen. Crouching around the corner of Moriarty's saloon, going up to the back door. Kid had a hat down over his head and was picking the fucking lock.

So he watched him working. Was pretty good at hitting the tumblers, looked like. Jericho tossed his cigarette out and leaned forward, looking down and around. No one else was noticing the kid sneaking into Moriarty's saloon, except him. He grinned. An opportunity, if there ever was one.

So he took it. He slowly sauntered over, and waited outside the door. It wasn't five minutes before the door opened slowly, and the kid sneaked back outside, crouching.

"I hope you got rid of my bar tab while you were in there," Jericho said, leaning on the wall beside the door.

The kid jumped about two feet into the air and spun his head around to face him. _"Shit!"_ he said. Jericho stared at green eyes, open wide in a face freckled into chaos, and a few bright red curls poking out of a ratty ball cap. It was a moment before either one spoke.

"Don't turn me in," the kid said. His voice was awful high pitched for a boy. Jericho grinned a little.

"Hell, kid, if you go back in and delete everything on that fucking computer, I'd be as happy as anything."

The kid blinked a few times. "You serious?"

Jericho shrugged, crossed his arms. "Sure," he said. "Go on."

The door opened again, and after a moment the kid sneaked back out and closed it slowly. Jericho looked down on him. "Done," he whispered. "You gonna turn me in, now?"

"Nah." Jericho spat a wad of snot off and pinged the town wall. "You're alright, kid."

"Thanks, man," the boy whispered, in a low voice. "I'm―I'm gonna go now."

"See you around," Jericho said, laughing to himself.

* * *

Man, the shitstorm that happened after that one! Jericho had a good long chuckle from the bar, watching Moriarty beat the absolute shit out of Gob. Ah, free entertainment. Moriarty assumed that Nova and Gob had been fleecing him somehow, altering the data on his console. He yelled as much in that fucking cocksucker brogue of his.

Jericho saw the kid sneaking around again, during the fray. Talking to that suited fuck in the corner. He rolled his eyes and went back to watching what was promising to be the bloodiest one-sided brawl in the history of the saloon.

Sometime during the beating, Jericho's eyes slid back over to the kid who was sitting with the suit. Kid was staring at the suit like he was the bee's _fucking_ knees. Idolizing. Jericho didn't know what to make of that one.

The suit was acting a little too forward with the kid, though. When they stood, the suit put a hand on the kid's back and lowered it a little too much. _Aw, hell naw._ That shit wouldn't fly, some fucking pedo taking little boys. _Not in this saloon._

"Kid, hey," Jericho called. "C'mere, kid, I got a question."

The kid looked up with those same wide eyes. Yeah, Jericho understood why the suit was interested. Looked so damn innocent. Too innocent for his own damn good. _Fucking faggoty piece of shit!_ Jericho gestured for the kid to take the stool beside him.

He watched the kid turn to the suit, say a few words. The suit looked disappointed. Jericho thumbed his rifle for a moment. Wasn't needed, the kid turned and joined him at the bar.

"Nice outfit," Jericho said. "You pull it off some whore?"

Kid looked down at the blue jumpsuit he was wearing and shrugged. "No," he said, slowly. "Came from home."

Jericho snorted. "Some home. Here, kid." He thumped down a shot glass and served him up a touch of whiskey.

Kid sniffed it before drinking it, and coughed like a goddamn moron when he did. Eyes teared up, face turned red. Jericho laughed at the sight. What an idiot.

"Listen to me, kid," Jericho said. "That uppity fuck in the corner, he's not exactly your _dear_ old dad." He pointed while holding his own shot glass, right at the suit. The suit ignored him. _What the fuck ever._

"I know," Kid whispered. "Was going to talk about the bo―" he clamped his mouth shut and flushed redder than a Brahmin's ass.

Jericho eyed him suspiciously. "What the hell you talking about."

"I―" Kid looked down. "I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it."

"Not in this shithole," Jericho muttered. "Shit, kid. You're gonna get your ass killed. I'm doing you a goddamn _favor,_ saving your ass from that pedo fuck."

Kid started to laugh, mouth jammed shut, eyes squeezing closed, shaking all over. "Thanks, man," he said, "but that wasn't what was going on."

Jericho raised an eyebrow. "Alright, you gonna be a dick about it. I got it. Get the fuck outta here, kid." He shooed Kid away.

Why I even fucking bother, he wondered. Kid left without the suit, though. Score one for red-blooded men everywhere. Jericho drank his whiskey and watched Gob's face turning into an unrecognizable pile of mush.

* * *

About a week later, Kid showed back up in Megaton, walking around in a stupid-as-shit looking leather jacket, bloodied and beaten. Replaced the stupid cap with an even stupider-looking Pre-War hat. Walked around with his hands jammed down in his pockets, leaning back, smug look on his face. Jericho saw him talking to Jenny down at the Brass Lantern. Shook his head at the retarded little shit.

He was walking back to his shack on the walkway when Kid came around a corner and stopped short, staring at him. "Hey, man," he said.

"Kid." Jericho nodded at him. "Fuck, you gonna hang around this heap, I gotta get your name or something."

"You can call me Kid," he answered. "I never got your name, either, man."

Kid stared him down for a moment, eyes running along his collar. Jericho felt like his skin was crawling. Kid had a weird way of looking at people. "I heard you used to be some badass out in the wastes," he said.

"Used to― _fuck you, Kid._ " Jericho spat onto the walk and pushed past him. Didn't need some idiot kid making him out to be some washed-up asshat. Got enough shit from the jackasses in Megaton.

"Hey, wait," Kid said. "Wait, I was gonna ask if you could come help me out."

"What, out there?" Jericho waved a hand at the town wall as he walked away.

"Yeah," Kid said, stepping quickly to keep up. "Out in the wastes. Running around, killing, stealing, you know. _Fun_ stuff."

Jericho stopped and turned to look at the kid. "What the fuck are you on about."

Kid shrugged one shoulder and knocked his pistol to the ground. The attempt at a casual gesture was made into an embarrassing display, and Jericho chuckled a little. "I need a little help, is all," the kid said. "Can't run amok without some serious firepower."

"I think you need more than a _little_ help," Jericho snarked back. "But yeah, okay. I'll come with ya. Gimme some caps to start."

"What?" Kid's eyes went wide.

"Need money to make money, dumbass," Jericho said. "So c'mon. Pony up some caps. Thousand oughta do."

Kid scrambled in his pack for the caps. Jericho watched. He pulled out a landmine, another shitty little pistol, a wad of pink clothing.

Finally the clinking noise of caps met Jericho's ears and he grinned. Yeah, this kid was a fucking moron, but he was easy to fleece. Might make some real money off him.

"Here," Kid said, thrusting a bag at him. "All I got."

Jericho grabbed the bag and immediately stomped off to his house. After hiding the shit, he came back out to the railing and held out a hand to Kid. "Deal's a deal," he said. "Where we goin'?"

Kid grinned. In combination with that weird gaze, the kid looked ridiculous. Jericho shook his head, scowling. He weirded the ex-raider out, made him feel uneasy. Still, he'd walked around with more than his fair share of creepy fucks in the wastes, before.

"I was thinking this tower down in the southwest," the kid said, starting to walk toward the gate of Megaton. "Mr. Burke said he had a job for me there."

Jericho followed, watching the kid's back and wondering just where in the fuck he managed to find a leather jacket with a snake on the back. Shit, Kid shouldn't trust his grimy old ass, but here they were, striding out of Megaton. Ready to make the wastelanders give up their caps and lives.

 _Hell yeah._ Jericho hadn't been outside the gates in some long time, fuck, he felt like it was all new again. Only this time he did know what to look out for. He wasn't no pansy faggot like that suit in Moriarty's.

"Let's go make some _fucking_ money, Kid," he grinned.

* * *

Kid was a more than a little off his rocker. He spent a lot of time staring into the wastes, looking down at the stupid thing on his wrist. Occasionally he would ask a question or two, usually of the "How do I maim someone with _this_ weapon?" variety.

Jericho had a lot of experience with maiming people. He recounted a few stories. Kid started to watch him with those same damn eyes that he'd used on the suit. Made Jericho uncomfortable. After walking around for half a week, he still hadn't got used to it.

"Is Jericho your real name?" Kid asked him.

"Is Kid yours?" Jericho grunted and spat onto his rifle, polishing it. The moon was rising in the distance, illuminating the small stand of rocks the kid had settled down in. Camping in the open wastes, while not exactly smart, was something Jericho knew how to do. No fire, as little noise as possible. All they needed was the moon and the view of a tall tower in the distance.

Kid was staring at the tower, occasionally glancing back the way they came, and fiddling with his pistol. "No," he said. "Jacky."

"You want me to call you Jacky or Kid?" Jericho asked, squinting at his rifle. Fuck, the damn thing was gonna explode, if he didn't clean all the shit out. _Been stuck in that shithole too long,_ he thought, and grumbled to himself.

"Doesn't matter," Kid said. "I don't like Jacky."

"Well, you fucking call me anything but Jericho, I'll gouge your eyes out with a goddamn _nail,"_ he replied, pulling the clip from the rifle. Ejected a round, disassembled the rest, put it back together.

Kid watched the whole thing with shining eyes. Jericho felt the crawling under his skin. "That's so _cool,"_ the kid whispered. "Wish I knew how to do that."

Jericho glared at him. "You don't know how to fucking repair a weapon?"

"No," Kid said. "...Never had to." He flushed and looked down at his feet.

Jericho shook his head. "You're gonna get me killed, you little shit," he groused. "Fucking playing at being a big bad wolf. Goddamn little fucking _lamb,_ that's what you are."

Kid adjusted himself on the rock and looked up at the moon. "Came from a Vault," he said. He shrugged. "Didn't learn about guns. Didn't need to. Why'd you think I asked for help?"

"Probably 'cause you're a _fucking idiot,"_ Jericho grumbled.

"No argument," the kid said. He glanced up at Jericho. Those weird eyes were back again. "You got a scar right here," he said, gesturing to his own neck and chest.

"Yeah, got lots of scars. Why?"

"How'd it happen?"

Jericho threw his rifle over his back. "Listen, you little _shit,"_ he started, "most fucking scars you get are because you did something stupid, or because you asked too many questions. Shut the fuck up, and take a damn nap before I decide I'm not running a fucking daycare."

Kid grinned a little. "Alright, alright." He laid himself across the rocks and turned his back to Jericho. "Good night, man."

"What the fuck, _ever."_


	2. Girl Stuff

"Ow!" Kid hissed and jerked away from Jericho's hands. _"Ow!_ Shit! _Ow!"_

"Stop whining like a little girl," Jericho said. He grabbed the kid's skinny-as-shit arm and applied a stimpak to it. "Crying like a stupid _bitch."_

"It _hurts_ when you get shot!" Kid groaned. "What the hell!"

"You keep making noise, you'll get shot again. If you're lucky," Jericho muttered, _"I'll_ shoot you first. Shut the fuck up, Kid!"

They were parked outside a robot store of some kind, having just ran into some asshat with a sniper rifle. Kid was grazed, some old fuck with robots took off running, and Jericho shot the stupid sniper in the back as he retreated.

"If you think I'm gonna dress all your fucking wounds," Jericho groused, "you ain't gonna live very long."

"Thank you," Kid said, and turned that weird look onto him. Jericho looked up and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Kid." Why he felt so fucking weird about the stupid kid's eyes, he had no idea. _Like a goddamn puppy dog, and I'm the big bitch momma. Jesus Christ._ Jericho stomped away and went through the sniper's stuff.

Kid stripped the man of the armor he was wearing, and looked it over. "You think I ought to keep this?" he asked, glancing at Jericho.

"It won't stop bullets," Jericho said. "But it's a damn sight better than that Vault shit you wear." He coughed a little, spat blood onto the sidewalk. Ugh, that shit again. _Goddammit._

"Alright. There's the tower, let's go." Jericho grumbled and shook his head, following Kid up to the place.

The rich fucks in the tower weren't what Jericho would consider quality people. He knew it took a big bastard to get rich in the wastes, and he didn't mind his company being despicable. Just not an entire fucking tower full of asshats. He trusted the place less than he trusted his own shitty memory. And that was saying something.

Kid walked around impatiently. Looked like he had something on his mind. Jericho followed him into an elevator and out of it. The suit from Moriarty's saloon was waiting for them.

"Jacky, my dear!" the suit crowed.

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ," Jericho mumbled. The suit was King Asshat Pedo Fuck, eyeballing the kid like a steak dinner now.

"Mr. Burke," Kid said. "Did I make it in time?"

"Yes, yes, come." Burke gestured them into the suite behind him.

* * *

Well, fucka-doodle-do. Kid was crazier than a shithouse rat.

Jericho watched the explosion of the shitheap where his house had been and squinted his eyes. Oh, he was pissed. Beyond pissed. His fucking shack was gone, and all those caps! _Fuck_ this _fucking_ idiot _kid!_

He didn't say a damn word about it until the kid unlocked his new suite, a blank expression on his face. Jericho followed Kid inside and waited for the door to close, then grabbed the little shit by his collar and tossed him into a tall shelf.

"You little _fucking shithead asshat―"_

"What?" Kid asked, eyes going wide. "What did I do?"

"Fucking blew up my goddamn _house!"_ Jericho slammed the kid into the shelf again, holding him up into the wood this time.

 _"Oh."_ Kid's eyes went weird again. He liked explosions a little too much. "I guess you'll have to live here. I'm sorry, man."

Jericho dropped him and grabbed up an unattended bottle of hooch, and made his way out the back doors to the balcony. Fuck. He wasn't even worried about the people in that shithole, fuck them, they weren't worth the shit they squat out. Hell, he didn't even care about this stupid shack, it wasn't nothing special. All that fucking money, though. _Fuck!_

Kid didn't follow him. Jericho drank until the booze was gone and his head was sufficiently fuzzy enough that he wasn't likely to stab the little shit, and went back into the suite.

A high-pitched shriek met his ears before he registered that Kid was changing in the room, into the leather armor he'd stripped off that sniper. "Stop screaming like a stupid bitch, it's just _me,"_ he muttered. His eyes focused on the kid.

 _What. Fuck?_ Kid was covering his chest like a woman would, staring at him. _The fuck?_

Jericho shook his head and tried to comprehend. _Too drunk? Bad booze?_ He was seeing shit. Maybe he needed to drink more. "Whatever," he mumbled. His hand closed on another bottle of booze. He stumbled back outside.

 _What the shit._ What the shit, maybe that goddamn bomb ruined his eyes. He blinked a little and drank some more.

Eventually, he figured he'd pass out on the balcony. He did. Took the whole 'nother bottle, though.

* * *

"Oh fucking _Christ,"_ he muttered, when the sun hit his eyes the next morning. Wait, no, wasn't the damn sun, was the kid, shining some stupid light in his face.

"Jericho," he said. "Hey, man. Are you alive?"

"Takes more than some bathtub hooch to drown _me."_ Jericho peeled himself off the balcony floor. "Fuck, what time is it?"

Kid stared up at the sky and looked down to his Pip-Boy. "About eight."

"What, in the morning?"

"Yes," Kid answered. "You drank two bottles of scotch and passed out."

"No _shit."_ He coughed up another batch of blood and spat it over the railing. The view from the top of the tower was confusing and disorienting. Jericho stumbled back. "Ugh, shit. Okay, Kid. What's the plan."

"What do you mean?" the kid asked, opening the door to the suite.

"Where we going now. You _owe_ me, you little shit," Jericho complained. "My shack, all my shit."

"I am aware. I did say I was sorry," he replied. Those stupid green eyes flashed and Jericho shook his head free of the booze.

"So where the hell you wanna go now?" Kid stared at him for a moment, his weird look on Jericho's collar again. "Kid," he warned. "I swear to God, you don't stop staring at me I'm gonna pop your head like _a bottle of fucking soda."_

"We could try this radio station I heard about," Kid shrugged. "In the D.C. ruins."

Jericho's eyes bugged out of his head. "That's―we're in the ass end of the Capital Wasteland, you _little shit!"_

Kid smiled, timidly. "I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to get this out of the way, first." He turned and grabbed up his pistol. "I'm looking for someone. Have to go to D.C. to get more information."

If the kid hadn't blown his shack to kingdom come, Jericho would have just bashed him in the head. Now he wanted to steal everything the kid owned. He would have done that for five caps, back in the day, but this kid was into some heavy shit. Blowing up Megaton, fuck. This kid was worth way more than five caps, and Jericho was gonna make sure there was a fortune to fucking steal when he did bash the little shit's head.

"Alright, whatever," he muttered. "Let's go downtown."

* * *

Kid and Jericho were wandering along a scenic highway route when Kid did something that surprised him. Had to piss, he said. Instead of just turning to the side of the road like Jericho would have, Kid disappeared around a rock and was gone for a minute or two. Jericho knew he wasn't taking a shit, was over too quick.

Maybe the kid had trust issues. All that shit with Burke, the pedo fuck, touching him like that. Jericho wouldn't put it past the kid to be leery of him. Ought to be, Jericho chuckled, but he was more likely to stab the little shit than fuck him.

Jericho didn't fuck no boys. Never had, never _would._ He wasn't no _faggot,_ goddammit.

"Jericho," Kid said, after they'd gone further into the highway ruins. "You know anything about D.C.?"

"Nope." Jericho stepped around a corner. They ran into a couple raiders, ending the conversation.

The encounter was one of a few. Raiders all over the fucking place. Kid just about pissed himself when they ran into a whole bunch of them near a Metro. Suggested they should get into the Metro tunnels instead of running that gauntlet. Jericho agreed, but only after he saw the missile launcher. Wasn't like he was scared, just didn't want to get blown to shit today. _That's all._

"Kid, you know there's them _things_ down here, right?"

"Ghouls?" Kid whispered, looking around suspiciously.

"Fucking zombies all over the tunnels," Jericho said. "Eyes open, ears on."

They went deeper into the Metro, found more raiders. Jericho disabled one stupid fuck with a couple bullets to the legs. After the rest were dead, this dumbass was trying to drag himself to a weapon. Kid raised his pistol and was going to shoot him in the head, but Jericho stopped him.

"Wait, wait," Jericho said. He kicked the weapon away from the unlucky bastard. "Let's make 'im _dance."_

"Dance?" Kid asked.

"Watch." Jericho grabbed a bottle of turpentine and splashed it over the struggling raider, who swore and spat like the best of them. He pulled out a lighter and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. "You want the honors, Kid?"

"No thank you," Kid said. "It's your idea. Play it out." Jericho nodded and tossed the cigarette down.

The grin that grew across Kid's face, and those damn green eyes lit up as the man flailed about on the ground, made Jericho feel nervous. Didn't take very much mayhem to get the kid to smile, but a grin like that was hard to come by. He didn't like it, though. Goddammit, the kid was making him feel fucking _weird._ Jericho wasn't no fucking faggot but this kid was getting under his skin.

"That was something else," Kid said, when the fire finally died out. Crackling skin and blackened flesh smell wafted up to their noses. "Man, that's great!"

"Yeah, Kid," Jericho muttered. "C'mon. You can do the next one."

"That would be swell," Kid said, eyes still aglow.

Christ, he was gonna have to leave the little shit behind if he kept up that weird look and all those breathless remarks. Like the kid was impressed with his murderous know-how. Shit, the kid probably _was_ a faggot, acting all coy with his glances. Jericho grumbled under his breath and darted his eyes around. Maybe they'd get lucky and find an exit soon.

* * *

Took a few hours. Kid was running around looking in all the containers, shrieking that little bitch shriek of his every time a ghoul rushed at him from a doorway. Jericho was starting to lose his patience with the little shit. There was an exit nearby, but it was blocked by ferals and Jericho wasn't prepared to fist-fight his way through a fleet of zombies.

"I swear to _God,_ Kid," he started.

"I'm _sorry!_ I'm sorry, man, I didn't―" Kid covered his face and looked away. "I didn't know that there were so _many_ of them down here."

"Well, now we're _really_ fucked, you know." Jericho held up his rifle. "I'm outta fucking ammo and you ain't got but that pistol to shoot shit."

They backtracked to a Metro office, with two mattresses stuffed into a corner. Kid barricaded the lone doorway with a desk and shook out his pack to check the weapon situation. Without bothering to ask, Jericho snatched up a pack of cigarettes and shoved it in a pocket. A few grenades clattered around, various tin cans and bottles, two guns and some ammo boxes. Nothing that would help his rifle. He parked himself on a mattress and lit a cigarette.

"Um," Kid was sorting through the things. A wad of pink fabric was tossed to the side.

"What the fuck," Jericho said. "Why you got _girl_ clothes?" He toed the dress with a shit-stained boot and made it more dirty.

Kid turned his head and looked at Jericho with an incredulous look on his face. "Wh-What?" he asked, blinking.

"Just wondering why you're carrying this shit," he muttered, wiping his boot on the dress.

Kid turned himself around and stared at Jericho. "Whoa." His eyes grew wide.

Jericho stared back. "I wasn't kidding about them nails, Kid," he growled.

"No, uh―" Kid laughed, sheepishly. "Jericho, I'm not a _boy._ I thought you knew."

"What." His eyes narrowed at the kid. "The fuck are you talking about."

Kid grinned widely. "Holy _shit,_ man. I can't believe this." He reached up and pulled the stupid-as-shit shady hat off his head.

Jericho stared at a long tangle of curly red hair, big green eyes and freckled face.

 _Shit. The kid wasn't a boy._

 _The fuck?_


	3. Awesome Explosions

Jacky stared at the old man with a shit-eating grin on her face. Hell's bells, it felt hilarious to have gotten the old bastard off guard. She stared him down as his eyes traveled over her face and hair, and moved lower.

She rolled her eyes at him, then. _Of course. Men!_ Jericho stared at her chest for a moment and scoffed, looking away. He lit a cigarette and looked entirely unfazed.

"Them grenades will probably take care of the zombies," he said, staring away into the corner.

"I'm not good with grenades," she answered. "Probably blow my hand off."

Jericho took a long drag on the cigarette and flicked his eyes back to her chest. Jacky started to gather up all the things she'd poured out of her pack, a little mad that Jericho had wiped his shit-covered boots on her dress. Dammit, she'd been saving that for a special occasion. Like if she needed to play pretty for someone to talk her way in or out of a situation.

She grinned to herself. She still couldn't believe he thought she was a _boy_ this whole time.

"How old are you, Kid?" Jericho asked, his voice hard.

"Nineteen," she said, wadding up the dress and shoving it into the bottom of the pack.

"Fuck." Jericho laid his forearms across his knees. "You look like a fucking _child."_

"Not my fault," she muttered. "That's genetics."

"Guess that explains that shit at Tenpenny." Jericho put the cigarette out under a boot and stared at her again. "Thought I was seeing shit."

"You were drinking," she said, frowning at herself. One of the tin cans was jagged and she'd almost cut herself. Didn't need to get tetanus.

"Also explains the bitch shrieking." Jericho's eyes never left her chest. Jacky felt a little self-conscious now. She couldn't control how much breast meat she had any more than he could stop coughing up blood.

She glared at him. _"Whatever,_ man."

"And that shit with the pedo fuck," he muttered. "When _the fuck_ were you planning on telling me you were a _girl,_ you stupid little shit?"

"I thought you _knew!"_ she hissed. "I mean, come _on,_ man! I like to think I look a _little_ like a girl!" She kept her glare on him, one hand on a frag grenade.

Jericho actually looked a little relieved. "Fuck, Kid." He chuckled meanly. "You're about as much a girl as _I_ am."

"Whatever, Jericho," she muttered, and looked down at the grenade. Distraction. Don't let him get to you. She turned it over in her hands and looked at the pin. "How do grenades work, again?" she asked.

"Jesus Christ, Kid, put the fucking thing down before you kill us _both."_ He grabbed the grenade and tossed it aside.

When did he get so close? Shit, he was almost in her face, he was so close. "Back off," she said, flashing her eyes at him.

"Don't think I fucking believe you," Jericho said, pulling a strand of her hair roughly.

 _"What?"_ She moved backwards, scooting herself across the floor away from him. "You don't believe me?"

"Might be some faggoty ploy," he growled. "You look like a fucking boy even with your hair down."

"Gee, _thanks,"_ she snarled. "Really making me feel great."

"Maybe I ought to check," he snarled right back, and snapped a hand out to grab her by the collar.

"Let me _go!"_ she shrieked, her hands on his wrist.

Jericho stood up and jerked her upright by her collar, staring at her chest. He pulled her closer to him, breathing onto her face.

"Ugh, you smell like Brahmin shit and beer," she groaned. "Let me _go, asshole!"_

Jericho said nothing, just pawed at her with his free hand, running a hand up her thigh to her privates. She shrieked again as he grabbed her through the leather armor. He dropped her onto the ground after a moment of rough motion.

"Dammit!" Jacky swore. "What the hell, you _asshole!"_

Jericho just grumbled and went back to the mattress. "That's just fucking _amazing,"_ he muttered to himself.

"It's not my fault you can't see straight through all that booze," she shot back.

He muttered something to himself, under his breath. Jacky fixed her collar and looked at the desk barricade. She wasn't worried about him trying something; she'd been prepared for that this whole time. Thought he wasn't interested, before. Didn't seem he was now, either.

If they were safe in this room, she'd like to get a nap in. _If_ he could be trusted to watch her back, now that he knew she was actually a girl. She cleared her throat. "You going to be a dick about this?" she asked him, right out.

"I might dick you about," he muttered, angrily.

Jacky rolled her eyes. "Great, so now I have to worry about you rubbing one out in me in my sleep?"

"Naw, Kid," he said. "I ain't gonna touch your funbits. Not unless you _want_ me to." He sounded serious, too.

"Can you watch out so I can take a nap?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yeah, whatever. Get on with it."

* * *

As they left the Metro, Jericho was watching her ass. She rolled her eyes and fiddled with a small gear she'd found in a pile of scrap metal. Where were they? She brought up her Pip-Boy.

"Shit," she said. "I think we got lost."

 _"Shut up,"_ Jericho said, pulling her behind a stone wall. "Look." He pointed.

Super Mutants! Shit. She leaned her back against the wall. "What are we doing, then?" she asked.

"Kid, it's your plan, play it out," he said, half-smirking.

"Fuck you, Jericho," she muttered.

"Maybe later," he muttered.

Christ, now she'd have to watch out for the grimy old cocksucker. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah, _not_ happening," she replied. "Here, take a few grenades and we'll make a run for it."

Jericho and she fled down the sidewalks, tossing grenades left and right, until they reached the other side of the plaza and darted down into another Metro. None of the Mutants followed them, and Jacky moved down the tunnel with a little trepidation.

"We need ammo, Kid," Jericho was grumbling.

"I am aware." She sighed and looked around. "Wait, you hear that?"

They crept down the tunnels for a moment, and found a raider stronghold in the mezzanine. "Shit," Jericho grumbled. "This is fucking _bullshit."_

"I know." She breathed out and had a long think. Okay, so. They were lost, but it wasn't terribly bad, the Metros all connected, right? There was a map ahead, maybe once the Raiders were gone they could have a look.

There were other sounds―feral ghouls. She and Jericho watched as the ghouls chewed up the raiders, and a sly grin came over the old man's face. "Half the work done," he said. "Fucking _nice."_

"Yeah, but still got ghouls." Jacky frowned. "I got one grenade left."

"Toss it, then, stupid."

After, they sat in the little diner the raiders had set up, and Jacky chewed on an old caramel apple. Jericho was sitting in a booth, alternating between watching the mezzanine and staring at her.

"What the _hell,_ man?" she asked. "Why you gotta start looking at me like that?"

"Whatever, Kid," Jericho said.

"You better not be planning something stupid," she growled. "I might not know much about the wastes but I know how to kick people in the _balls."_

Jericho chuckled in a low tone. "Don't think you'd know what to do with a man, you little shit."

"Hmph!" She stood and tossed her food to the floor, and stomped out of the diner. She stood at the mezzanine entrance, reloading her pistol. After a minute or two, Jericho came up behind her and stuck a skull into her field of vision, blackened and burnt.

"Hey, kid, you got any med-x? My head is killing me," the skull said, in a squeaky voice.

Jacky turned and stared at Jericho, crossing her arms. "What are you doing."

"Trying to lighten the fucking mood," Jericho said, and tossed the skull out into the lower tunnels, smashing it off the wall. Jacky smiled.

"I'll stop staring at you if you stop staring at me," she said. "Fair deal."

"Yeah, _okay."_ Jericho lit a cigarette. "Where we going now, Kid?"

She looked at her Pip-Boy and pointed. "Exit is that way."

* * *

They traveled through the Falls Church Metro and out into Falls Church North with little concern. Super Mutants all over the place, they ducked and ran into Marigold Station and found themselves coming out into what was Grayditch. Fire breathing ants, _shit!_

They scrambled into an abandoned house and Jacky sighed to herself. "Okay, so we went the wrong way, it happens."

"Fucking Metros." Jericho took a moment to examine his weapon. "Gotta cross the river, Kid."

"Yes?" she guessed. "I was looking at the map down there, I don't think we were on the right line, anyway."

Jericho grunted and started eating something disgusting. Jacky turned herself to the house and looted it. Not much, some chems, a few miscellaneous items. She shoved it all in her pack and went back to the ex-raider. "Here," she said, thrusting a needle of med-x into his face. "You said..."

"I was fucking _joking,"_ he said, glaring at her. "Christ, Kid. Get that out of my fucking face."

Jacky flushed. Jericho squinted at her in the darkness. She looked away and shoved it into her pack. "You wanna head out now?" she asked. "Or do you need to sleep?"

"Sleep's for pussies and _little girls,"_ he muttered, and Jacky flushed even more.

The only reason she'd taken him away from Megaton before she blew it up was because he'd been remotely nice to her. "Nice" in that he was trying to warn her away from Mr. Burke, thinking he was a pedophile and for giving her a shot of whiskey. Jericho wasn't a _nice_ person, at all.

"You wanna leave then?" she asked, heatedly.

"Where the fuck am _I_ gonna go, you little shit?" Jericho stood up and barreled down on her, grabbing her by the collar. "You and your little fucking bomb, thank you very much!"

"I said I was sorry!"

Jericho laughed in her face. "Yeah, _real_ fucking sorry. You sorry to all them asshats in Megaton, too?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why would I be? They knew the risks. Hell, Cromwell was rolling around in that shit on a daily basis!"

He laughed again, but it wasn't mean. "Don't I know it," he muttered. "Fuck _them,_ anyway."

"Let me go," she said. He glared at her again, and let go of her collar. "Look, man, I saved your fucking life back there."

"Is that right?"

"I could have let Mr. Burke blow you to smithereens, too," she growled. "Shit, I could have just walked away after you took all my caps."

"Whatever, Kid. I ain't scared of you." Jericho turned away and put his back to her, picking up his weapon.

"Well, I'm not scared of you, _either,"_ she said. "So, alright, you wanna head out?"

"Yeah, whatever." Jericho slung his rifle over his back. "You still fucking owe me for my shack, though."

"Don't know what you want me to do―"

He snorted loudly. "Yeah, you'll figure it out. Let's get. My legs are getting stiff just sitting around like a fucking pageant queen."

Jacky led the way out of the town and across the water, fighting off more Super Mutants, a couple Mirelurks, and more raiders as they headed south. Half a day later they turned around and argued as they walked north toward the right Metro.

Jacky needed to learn to read her maps better. She grimaced to herself as she stared down at her Pip-Boy. Jericho shot at a car and slapped her in the chest. "Hey, hey, watch this."

The car was on fire. A muffled explosion under the hood brought more flame, and then―

"Holy _sh―"_ she yelled, ducking a flying car door. "That's _awesome!"_

"Ain't it a beaut?" He grinned back at her.

"Oh, I want to do one!" She looked around for another car to shoot, grinning.

So, instead of finding the right Metro that day, they wandered around looking for cars to blow up and fought a handful more raiders. Jacky was flush with excitement by the time they worked their way into the Metro.

The old asshole was worth the entertainment value alone!


	4. Take a Walk

Note: This and next chapter and like, every single one after has some form of smut in it. Dammit, Jericho.

* * *

Jericho wasn't having a very good day. After blowing up about fifteen cars, they'd backtracked to the Metro, and killed some more raiders. He got a bullet wound through the leg, and as painful as it was it was also bleeding a gush of hot blood down his thigh.

The kid dragged him into a small room inside the Metro and helped him to a cot in the corner, then dumped out her pack and scrounged for a stimpak. She handed it up to Jericho without looking at him. He grumbled and applied it, then threw the spent stimpak at her head.

"Ow! What―" She glared at him. "Don't be an _asshole."_

Jericho just smirked and laid back on the cot.

No, it had not been a good day. Every single car they'd blown up brought that crazy grin to Kid's face. Made Jericho feel much better that she was a girl―no more conflicting feelings in his pants, or his head. But now he was feeling a lot like he wanted to fuck the kid, and that wouldn't do. Not if he planned to steal from her, and not if they were traveling together. Kid already told him to beat it, once. She'd tell him again in a heartbeat.

No doubt the kid was a girl. No doubt after feeling her up and, damn, she was too fucking skinny to lay into, anyway. Looked like she hadn't eaten anything in ages. He scowled, looking up at the ceiling. Not really his type, so why the fuck did he care.

"What are you all grumpy for, you got the last stimpak." She growled a little and hissed as she wiped off her arm where she'd been grazed.

He thought about that pedo fuck in Megaton, the suit who showed up at Tenpenny. If they got back there, he'd have to punch that fucker in the face for touching her. Whether or not he could tell she was a girl, that fucker wasn't getting any. Jericho wasn't gonna travel with some stupid little shit who was fucking another man. No, _sir._ That just wasn't fair.

"Wait, who are you going to punch?" Kid asked him, looking confused.

Fuck him. He'd been muttering again. "Whatever, Kid," he said, and stretched out on the cot. "I'm taking a fucking nap. You wake me up in an hour, unless someone starts shooting at us or some shit."

Kid woke him up on time. Shook his shoulder, slapped his face a little. One of the few times the kid had decided to touch him. Made him worse, though. "Fucking hell," he grumbled to himself.

"Something the matter?" she asked, staring up at him. She was sitting on the floor, going through the pack, looking at the junk she'd collected. She'd pulled her hair into a ponytail, instead of pushing it into her hat. Actually, he hadn't seen her hat for a while.

"What the fuck happened to your hat?" he asked.

"I don't know. Guess I lost it," she shrugged.

Jericho stared at her head. Waves of bright red hair, almost orange, pulled back into a messy ponytail. It trailed down her neck, bouncing around on her skin as she moved. Her skin under her leather was creamy and white, he remembered that from what he saw at Tenpenny.

He looked away and grumbled again. Wasn't known for reigning himself in. But he didn't want to fuck some stupid kid. She was crazy. Blew up a whole fucking town. Crazy bitch might want it, might not, or might stab him through the fucking _eyeball_ while he slept. Any of those outcomes was a bad thing. And he was too old to get killed by some grade-school Vault baby.

"I'm gonna take a walk, Kid."

* * *

Fucking _embarrassing._ Here he was, stuck in a fucking toliet, beating his meat to that stupid skinny bitch's image in his head. Maybe it had been too long; maybe she was just too fucking exciting with her love for violence. He liked that about her, she was _always_ ready for some fire. And those eyes glowing in the light of an explosion, Christ.

Didn't take much. He imagined that grin wrapped around his cock and exploded all over the fucking place. _There._ That should stop him from fucking around with her, keep his head on his shoulders. Fuck that bitch― _no._ Strangle her half to fucking death. _Yeah. Better._

He returned to find her looking at a computer terminal. She was squinting in the darkness, typing commands into a console, and glanced up at him. "Do you feel _better,_ now?" she asked, impishly.

Jericho stopped short and sneered. "What the fuck, Kid." She fucking _knew._

"What? If you have to 'take a walk', I am not going to complain," she said, turning back to the console. "Christ, don't act like it's not _normal."_

"Don't see you running off to play patty-cake," he growled, and grabbed her pack, looking through it. No more cigarettes? Fuck, he needed one, bad. Stressful little shit.

"I don't need to run off to do that," she said, blandly. "Hey, check this out. I can activate the gas in here and get those stupid ghouls good. Going to be a real pretty explosion." She grinned at him in anticipation.

 _Jesus._ Between that weird comment and her grin, he felt himself hardening up again. _Fuck!_

She was right about the explosion. Her shriek of delight and that grin didn't leave his ears and eyes for a while.

Fuck him. He was fucking _doomed._

* * *

Whatever else the fuck was wrong with the kid, she learned explosives real quick. Bought a whole bunch of grenades with all the shit they'd scavenged from the Metros and flung them at enemies without worry. It was almost embarrassing to see the blissful look on her face when something blew up right good. And nasty, when she damn near blew him up too. Fucking blast radius shit.

Made their way down to the radio station. Met some fucking dumbasses in power armor, Jericho didn't care much for that. Kid had a long talk with some blonde bitch in power armor, then gestured for Jericho to follow her.

Cleared the area of Super Mutants, and whatever that big fucking bastard was. Kid blew it up and bit her lip when the explosions were all over the place, her face flushed with blood.

So that's what she meant. About not needing to run off. Jericho shook his head. Fuck, he couldn't play with her, she'd probably strap a landmine to his nuts if he didn't get her off. She really liked blowing shit up. ...Maybe she'd like blowing him up, hah, he wasn't about to let that grin near his junk now. Too dangerous.

The fucking deejay in the radio station was real helpful. Jericho just about wanted to bash the bastard's head in, but the kid was patient and agreed to help him out.

So that's how they ended up going through the museum, and he was extremely pissed that she had to stop and look at every exhibit that was still standing. The best and worst of it was the planetarium.

She'd stopped and looked up at the ceiling with an awed look on her face while Jericho had to shoot and kill two of the mutants. Got himself shot in several places, and collapsed onto the curving bench seats while she stared up at the broken display.

"Don't bother yourself or nothing," he griped. "I'm only fucking _dying_ over here!"

Kid snapped her head around and walked over to him, eyeing the damage. Didn't say a word, just laid down her pack and started unbuckling his jacket.

"Fuck you _doing,_ kid?" he asked.

"I doubt you want to go to sleep tonight with some extra lead in your chest," she said, pushing up his shirt. "Hit you with a stimpak, the bullets won't come out on their own."

Jericho snorted. "Some excuse," he said. "You just wanna see the goods."

She held up a pair of tweezers and stared at him. "Good thing I got _these_ out, then," she said, meanly.

That was a hit right below the fucking belt and he wasn't gonna put up with that. Jericho grabbed her hand and pulled her on top of him, grabbing her around the nape of her neck with the other hand. "You wanna fuck around like _that,"_ he snarled, "I'm more than ready to give you a run."

She scoffed and stared him down. "I am not _fucking around,"_ she hissed. "You can't take a little insult, it's not my fault. You want me to take out those bullets or not, asshole?"

Jericho tossed her off him, prying the tweezers from her hands, and muttered to himself the whole time he was removing the bullets. Each and every one he chucked at the kid, who ducked them without a word. She watched in silence, and his skin was crawling more than ever, up until he had to remove his jacket and shirt to get at the one lodged in his shoulder.

With a quick motion she disarmed him of the tweezers, straddled him, and deftly removed the bullet from his shoulder. Jericho stared at her face. She looked intense. She dropped the bullet onto the seats of the planetarium along with the tweezers and ran her hands along his chest.

"How did you get that _scar,"_ she breathed, looking at it. Her eyes were glowing again.

 _Goddammit._ He felt his pants tightening against his cock, her ass flat on top of him. Skinny fingers running down the jagged scar that ran from his neck to above his belly button. He grinned and laid his hands on her hips, feeling the bones through her leather armor. What the _fuck,_ scars got her hot?

"Some asshat thought he could try to eat me," he said, remembering. "Was gonna butcher me up like a goddamn _steak."_ He grinned wider. "He ain't around to make _that_ mistake twice."

She shivered and bit her lip. That pale face was flushed with blood now, and she leaned down to run her lips along the scar.

"Kid, you wanna think about that," he warned. "You ain't fucking around, right?"

 _"Oh,"_ she breathed, hot air onto his chest. "I just..." She moaned.

Fuck _him._ She really was into that shit. She was rubbing herself onto his crotch, now. Jericho grabbed her tighter and stopped her with a small grunt. Good thing he had _so many_ fucking scars!

He grinned at her head traveling down his chest and unbuckled one of the belts at her waist. She sat upright, surprised. "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

"Kid, you're fucked up." He unbuckled another one.

"Stop," she said, grabbing his hand.

"Too late now," he muttered. "You just up and bothered the beast."

She paled even further and tried to get up off of him, pushing up with her thighs. Jericho moved his hands back to her hips and slammed her back down onto his crotch, grinning up at her. "You can't get on top of a man and act like that, expect not to get _fucked,_ Kid."

"I don't―" she hissed, as he grabbed her wrists with one hand, finishing the buckles in a hurried motion. _"Stop!"_

"Nope," he said, moving to his own pants. "You started it, you little shit. I'm gonna fucking _finish_ it."

Aw, poor little _baby,_ she looked scared now. "Jericho―" Those green eyes on him, goddammit she could turn on the fucking heat when she wanted to. He lifted her up off of him and pulled her pants down, catching her underwear at her knees, then pushed his down and exposed himself. "Jericho, stop it, fuck!"

"Kid," he said, pulling her closer to his face and breathing onto her neck. "You need to _shut the fuck up,_ and enjoy the ride."

He guided her onto him and pushed into her. She cried out, her face screwed up. He groaned― _goddamn,_ she was tighter than a fucking vice, around him.

Here and he thought fucking the kid was a _bad_ idea. She was acting like a goddamn idiot, going limp in his hands, letting him do it.

Shit, he shoulda done it _sooner._


	5. Enjoy the Ride

Note: Content warning, sex in this one. And the next one. And so on.

* * *

The kid moved her knees onto his stomach and was pinned by her pants, while he held her with one hand at her wrists, and pushed her down onto him. She threw her head up and moaned, loud and long, as he hit bottom.

 _Goddamn,_ she did feel real fucking good. The shallow seats of the planetarium dug into his back as he worked up a rhythm, pushing himself into her with his thighs, while pulling her down onto him with each motion. She got real loud, real quick.

"Kid, you'd better _shut the fuck up,"_ he muttered. "Them mutants gonna find us."

She closed her mouth and her head was still thrown back, moaning into her lips. Jericho tightened his grip on her wrists and laid into her as best he could. She was so fucking tiny, Jesus Christ, he felt like he might break her in half if he went too fast. She felt great, though, moving up and down on him. Fuck, and he was doing _all_ the fucking _work,_ too.

Jericho let her wrists go and tugged at her pants, and she got the hint. Moving her feet out, she pulled them off and planted her knees on either side of him. Then she went to fucking town on him like a goddamn starving dog on a bone.

Neither one said anything, just enjoyed themselves, the only sounds in the room the planetarium display and the occasional soft grunt and slick fucking noises. Jericho felt the dull feeling in his stomach beginning to swell, knew he was getting close. Kid dug her fingers into his shoulders and let out a gasp, throwing herself forward with a shudder. She moaned, loudly, slowing down.

"Not fucking done," he grunted, sitting up and pushing her backwards with him. The angle changed, felt great, but no good for him. "C'mon, Kid."

"I _can't―"_ she gasped for air. "I'm―I'm―" Her face was on fire, sweating, that orange hair sticking to her cheeks as she closed her eyes. "Oh, _God!"_

She vibrated around him, her mouth parted slightly as a guttural moan escaped her lips, bouncing up and down. Shit, he hadn't had to do anything and she was ready to go and gone before he got his. She slowed more, her eyes opening slightly, looking down at him.

"Where's _mine?"_ he joked, growling.

"What?" She looked spent, shuddering and shivering on top of his cock. She kept going. _What a fucking sport._

"My turn," he said, and turned her around so her back was to his chest. "Hold on, it's gonna get _bumpy."_

Didn't much care what she thought, at that point. He held her by the hips and fucked her good, shaking her up like the soda pop he'd warned her with before. She found somewhere to put her hands, grabbed his knees with those skinny fingers and dug in. He felt himself cumming right as she started moaning again, and rode it out, her head back and looking up at those stupid stars. Kid started clenching around him again, making too much noise for her own good. He came with a violent thrust, nearly bouncing her right off him.

Took him a minute to collect himself after―damn, it _had_ been too long, after all. She whimpered as he pushed her up and off of him, and stuffed himself back into his pants. Kid settled herself onto the dirty bench seats and stared up at the fake stars.

Jericho laid back on the bench and grabbed his rifle, waiting for anything that might come barreling through the doors. _Fuck, yeah._ He shoulda fucked her like that the minute he found out she was a goddamn girl. He felt sleepy, blinked back exhaustion.

Kid grabbed her pants and slowly began to pull her underwear on, still shivering a little. "Poor little baby," he mocked.

"If you think that's going to happen again," she started, standing up and pulling her leather around her hips, "you are _sorely_ mistaken."

He grunted out a dismissive noise. _"You_ started it. I told you _―_ "

"I'm sorry if you thought I wanted you," she said, angrily.

"You weren't complaining, you little _shit,"_ he growled. "So whatever the fuck you're on about, you can shove it up your ass."

She stood up straighter, and buckled her belt, then went to the planetarium display. It had stopped operating sometime during. Kid laid a hand on the machine and laughed softly. "Never figured I'd spend a night under the stars like that," she said.

"Maybe I'll do ya under 'em again, when we get out of this shithole," he said, snickering.

She glared at him over her shoulder and started walking off. "Get dressed, you asshole. I need a post-fuck explosion."

* * *

Kid didn't say much of anything to him for a while. _Eh, fuck her. Oh wait, I already did!_ Jericho spent the next twenty-four hours grinning stupidly at himself, trying to figure out an excuse to give another ride.

She retrieved the dish and installed it, then returned to Three Dog. Jericho stood around, coughing up blood and picturing her face all red and hair sticking to her cheeks. _Fuck, yeah._

So they were supposed to go south, now, and Jericho still didn't know who the fuck she was looking for. Didn't really care. _How often you get to bang some crazy broad that blew up a fucking town?_

Rivet City, some damn fucking boat or something, was where she found out she was supposed to go to some place way out west.

Jesus Christ, whoever the fuck she was trying to track down was worth all this shit? Jericho shut his mouth and followed Kid back across the wastes. She stopped at some raider-infested drive-in, and stared out across the ground in the dimming light. Corpses littered the ground, courtesy of Jericho's rifle.

Hey, he thought, this is a nice opportunity. "Kid, get over here," he said, impatiently.

Kid turned to look at him and he gestured for her to get behind the concrete wall. "More raiders?" she whispered.

"Naw, kid, just watch." He aimed his rifle over the wall, setting up a car to explode.

"Oh, you fucking _stupid_ asshole!" she yelled, and fled backwards into the wastes, as the cars began to explode.

Well, it was the one car caught, then the whole bunch went up like a fucking atom bomb. Like Megaton, but hell, this one was his to make. She watched the explosion, her face lit up like nothing else since Megaton blew.

"That your way of saying you're sorry?" she asked, her breath catching in her throat.

"Unless you want me to blow up some city, which I can't do." He chuckled, and spat. "Fuck, Kid, you got any smokes?"

She grabbed a pack from her pocket and smacked them into his chest, without looking at him. "That was _beautiful,"_ she said, staring at the wreckage. "Thank you, Jericho, you're forgiven."

He just laughed and lit a cigarette.

* * *

This place on the ass end of the wastes was a Vault underneath some old garage. Kid stepped up to a lounger and looked down into it, then back at him. "I don't know how long this is going to take."

"Whatever, I'll go take a nap." He shrugged and looked around.

"I'll have to let you know how it goes. Don't think I can talk to you from in here."

"Fuck, _whatever._ Just do it. This place gives me the fucking creeps."

Kid nodded. "If I don't come out, you can have the suite at Tenpenny," she said. "Here's the key."

"Yeah, alright. Get _on_ with it!" Jericho shoved the key into his pocket and went looking for a place to sleep.

Couple hours later he woke up and moseyed back into the lounger room, looking around. Couldn't remember which one she'd gotten into so he stood by the consoles in the center and ground his teeth as the goddamn robots whirred around.

Eventually she got out. And fuck him, if she wasn't looking for her real daddy. Jericho swore to himself and stomped off, staring into a corner. Wished he hadn't smoked all the damn cigarettes. She had a reunion with her father that sounded like she wished she hadn't found the bastard.

All ice and cool words. Jericho knew she burned up with fire somewhere in there. She wouldn't get all turned on by explosions if she didn't. Or want to fuck him because he got a scar so goddamn dramatic. He snorted. Fuck, she'd better cave soon. He wasn't gonna wait around for another ride forever.

"No, I'm not going to Rivet City with you. _No,_ I won't! Dad―no, _listen_ to me!" Didn't sound like it was going well. Jericho cracked his neck and sauntered over to the kid.

"Is there a fucking _problem?"_ he asked her, but the question was more for daddy over there. Fucking _wuss,_ more like. Didn't seem like he'd seen much action. Probably couldn't take care of himself in the wastes, needed his little girl's help.

"No, there is not a problem," she said, and glared at the wuss. Jericho turned to face him, put his rifle up on his shoulder.

"This is _exactly_ what I meant," the wuss said. "I told you to stay put because you always run around with the _worst_ types―"

"What the _fuck,_ man?" Jericho shoved him back a little. "I ain't no goddamn asshat. I take _care_ of shit!"

"Jericho, stop," Kid said. "Dad, you go on without us. I'm going back to my new home, _then_ I'll join you."

"Jacqueline," the wuss started, "I want you to be a part of this. It would mean so much, to me and to your mother..."

Jericho snorted. The kid smacked him in the chest and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. He shook his head as he walked off.

"I don't really care _what_ you think," Kid said. "I needed someone to protect me. So he's coming along."

"What about that DeLoria kid, do you also have an excuse for running around with him?" her father was asking.

Kid snapped and shrieked at him. Jericho left the lounger area and went back up to the garage. Kid wouldn't care. And he wasn't sticking around, because she probably wouldn't want him to shoot her dad. Definitely wouldn't want to fuck him again, at least.

After a while, the wuss walked out of the garage with a weird look on his face. Kid joined Jericho, who had found a pack of cigarettes and was lazily smoking them as he stared through the holes in the garage doors.

"We all set?" he asked her.

"Not really. But we can go now. Gonna run down to Tenpenny and then head out to Rivet City again." She sighed.

"Just a family of ass-enders, ain't you." Jericho grumbled.

"Shut up," she grumbled back.

They made their way across the ground to the tower. Kid exploded a couple things, but her heart wasn't in it. He could tell, she wasn't enjoying the explosions anymore. Musta been something that wuss said to her.

"You gonna be a wimp about this shit?" he asked.

"About _what_ shit." She snorted and looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Whatever blew out that fire you had," he said.

She didn't say anything, just kept walking.

* * *

Jericho, true to himself, punched Burke in the fucking eyes when they got to Tenpenny and the pedo fuck was still trying to hang around Kid. Kid watched disinterestedly, striding over the man as he rolled around on the floor and unlocked her door.

She tossed her pack down and fell onto the bed, scratching the back of her neck. "I need a fucking _bath,"_ she griped.

"Go take one. I'm sure you can talk one of these fucks into letting you use their shitter." Jericho started looking around for booze, making a lot of noise.

"Check the corner," she muttered.

He opened a dresser drawer and seized up his prize, a bottle of whiskey, and it didn't stink like piss for once. After a long drink, he settled himself onto the edge of the bed and offered it to her.

"I'm going to go see if Mr. Burke will let me use his bathroom," she muttered, pushing the booze away. "God _forbid_ we be decent to our neighbors, at least."

"No you don't," he growled, grabbing her arm as she got up off of the bed. "You little shit, you think I'd let you go back to _that_ bastard?"

Kid looked up at him. She looked tired as all get out. "Honestly." She scoffed. "I'm not sleeping with the man."

"Better _not fucking be,"_ Jericho muttered, as she walked out of the room. He drank in peace.

Naw, that wouldn't do. Her fucking around on him? _Hell, no._ She wanted Jericho to come along, she got him.

For better or for _worse._


	6. Rules for Professionals

Note: Smut in all these chapters. You are warned.

* * *

Jacky washed herself as best she could in Alistair Tenpenny's suite. Mr. Burke, while understanding about the situation and accepting her apologies for her "bodyguard", was not able to provide her with what she wanted.

She suspected it was because he was worried Jericho would show back up while she was in his bathroom. She hoped the asshole wouldn't bother. Maybe he'd get drunk and pass out again. That would be nice, not to have to worry about his sneaking up on her.

She thought about that scar on Jericho's chest and heat flooded through her. _Dammit, girl. Just because you're traveling with a man who's seen it all and lived to tell the tale... doesn't mean you can jump him._ The asshole was probably all covered in shit and piss just like her. He needed a bath just as bad as she did. She sighed. Too bad there wasn't a tub in her suite. It really sucked.

She sat in the bathtub for a little while, almost dozing off. Loud noises in the outer room caught her attention. Yeah, the old shithead went after Mr. Burke. Jacky got out of the water and walked out to the lobby, stark naked and pissed.

Jericho had dragged Mr. Burke out of his penthouse and was beating him on the floor. "Hey, jackass," Jacky said. "Quit pissing off the neighbors and get your ass back in the suite!"

The ex-raider looked up and blinked a moment, then grinned. "Aw, _hell,_ Kid," he said. He dropped the suited man and stood up, eyeing her salaciously.

Mr. Burke fled into his suite and locked the door behind him. Jacky sighed in impatience. "I mean it, asshole. Go back to the suite. I'm not done bathing."

"Yeah, you are," he growled, and dragged her back to the suite.

"Fuck, Jericho― _my armor―"_

"Get it in the morning," he said, and slammed the door, then picked her up around the waist and pushed her against the wall. "Right now, you gotta make another payment on that _debt."_

"What debt!" she hissed, pushing back against him. He did smell pretty ripe. Most of it was whiskey.

"My fucking shack, you little _shit,"_ he grunted, rubbing himself against her crotch.

"I'm not fucking you again!" she shrieked, and jabbed him in the eye. He swore and dropped her to the floor. Jacky crept around his legs and made for the weapons locker at the side of the bed, crawling over the sheet to get to it.

"No, you _don't,"_ Jericho said, grabbing her by the ankle. "I got needs, y'see. And you fucking _owe_ me." He pulled her back toward him.

Jacky growled in annoyance and kicked backward into his crotch as hard as she could. He laughed. "That's fucking _pathetic,_ Kid."

"Whatever," she muttered, and pulled her leg up for another go. He flipped her and spread her legs, looking down at her naked body.

"Shit, Kid, you really don't have much to work with," he muttered. She threw an arm out at him as he came closer.

"Fucking stop, or _I swear to God―"_ she snarled.

"Don't tease me, you little shit," he growled, knocking her arm away. "We both know you like it. I got you _good_ last time, and you owe me for that, too."

 _"Fuck you!"_ she spat, and reached out to jab him in the eye again. Jericho ducked his head down and bit her hard on the chest. She shrieked and slapped the back of his head.

"You're gonna make me have to fucking hit you, Kid," he said, angrily. "I don't wanna have to do that!"

"Then stop trying to _rape_ me, you asshole!" Jacky watched his head rising, and jabbed him in the eye again. Jericho swore and he did actually hit her, slapped her right across the face. She was stunned for a moment. He chuckled, darkly.

Jericho unbuckled his jacket again, shaking it off, and pulled up his shirt. _"Maybe_ you want to see the _rest_ of my scars?" he asked, leering at her.

 _"Maybe_ you want to let go of my fucking _leg?"_ She pinched her face at him.

"Aw, c'mon, Kid," he said, pulling his shirt off. "I got one from a real nasty yao guai bite, you might like."

 _Fuck._ That long scar on his chest was so fucking tempting! She fought the urge to bite her lip as her face flushed with blood, staring at his built chest and all that mangled skin. "You're not playing _fair,_ asshole," she muttered, and went limp under his hands.

"Won't survive long in the wastes, if you do," he said. "That's a fucking _lesson,_ Kid."

Jericho took her on the bed, their knees on the floor, slamming into her over and over. He wasn't able to get off without doing her from behind, apparently, and the pain of his girth mixed with the intense warmth spreading through her was enough for her own release. She damn near screamed into the room, but Jericho grabbed her head and pushed it into the mattress, muttering to himself.

When they had finished she lay on the bed beside the asshole, tracing the scar on his chest. Her eyes were on the ceiling, because she knew she'd want to go again after seeing that scar. Jericho blinked a few times in a sleepy way and fell asleep with his dick hanging out of his pants. Surprisingly, he didn't snore.

Jacky sighed. She supposed it wasn't all bad. Just―probably better to make some rules about it. Like not forcing it on her, or trying to get her in a dangerous place. She loved the feelings he gave her. She was still riding the high, her face sweating, muscles flooded with warmth.

Yeah, they'd have to set some rules. Otherwise the old asshole was going to be doing her on a car hood one day, and set the damn thing off to explode. She shivered at the thought. _...Damn, that would be hot._

Jacky wasn't about to explain this to her dad. He already thought it, anyway, especially after that worst types remark. She rolled her eyes. He always thought the worst of a situation. This was the first time it actually was the worst.

 _Or maybe the best,_ she thought, looking up at the sleeping asshole. _Hard to tell. Oh well. We'll see tomorrow._

* * *

Jericho didn't care much for rules. She knew that was going to be a problem, but once she agreed to have sex with him... willingly, even, he didn't seem to give a shit. He got her argument about not doing it on a car hood. Said he'd personally make sure neither one of them got fucked over while they were fucking.

Jacky rolled her eyes at him and wished he wasn't quite so crude.

On the way back to Rivet City, they ended up bogging through the shallows of the river and both of them got irradiated. Jacky got it worse than the old asshole, and she knew he laid her out while she was sleeping off the RadAway. That shit-eating grin he had on his face, and her buckles weren't in the right place.

"Can't you even agree to wait until I'm _conscious?"_ she snarled.

"Kid, you find me knocking at your door, I'm surprised you _don't_ wake up." He chuckled nastily.

"I think I'll stand by my comment with the tweezers," she muttered, and he slapped her in the back of the head.

"Keep saying that kind of shit," he growled. "I'll have to prove I wasn't kidding about them nails. Won't look so _hot_ with one eye!"

She had another argument with her dad at Rivet City, and on the way to the Jefferson Memorial. He had never understood her. That was why she ended up running about with Butch―and why she was not afraid to walk the wastes with the post-apocalyptic version of a satyr. Jericho didn't say a word about anything, just kept his eyes on the horizon and his hand on his rifle.

"How come you went looking for that asshat, anyway?" he asked, as they cleared the Memorial of mutants.

"Because he's my _dad,"_ she muttered. "I don't know. I don't know _what_ I expected, but I couldn't stay in that goddamn Vault. Fucking Overseer sicced his goons on me."

Jericho laughed. "Maybe we oughta go down and show them what to expect," he said.

"Aw, that's _sweet,_ Jericho," she mocked, and he smacked her along the back of the head again.

"Don't you fucking expect _me_ to put up with your shit. Far as I'm concerned, your daddy oughta slapped you around a little more."

"Who's in fucking charge, here?" she yelled, getting up in his face.

 _"Me,"_ he said, grabbing her around the throat. He pulled her up into his face and grinned. "I am, and you fucking _know it,_ Kid."

He dropped her to the floor of the tunnel and reloaded his rifle. Jacky stared up at him and looked away, at the wall. He was probably right about the slapping around bit. But she was still in charge, and all his male bravado was a fucking show.

After they cleared the tunnels of mutants, Jacky headed for the door to let her dad know that it was clear. Jericho grabbed her arm and pressed her into the doorway, grinning down at her. "This is what I call _opportunity,"_ he said, running his fingers along her scalp and grabbing the roots of her hair.

"Fuck, Jericho, we've got shit to do!" She shoved him back with both hands.

"Naw, Kid. We've got a safe place," he said, and hiked one of her legs up over his thigh. "And dear old daddy out there watching the door. Best 'fuck you' you could give him beside fucking me right in front of him."

"I don't―" she started. "I'm not in the mood," she growled.

"C'mon, Kid," he grunted, lifting her other leg. "I'm sure I can find you a fucking scar to _make out with,_ if you want."

"Would you shut the _fuck_ up about that shit?" She snarled. "I'm not in the fucking mood, asshole!"

"You already agreed to 'that shit'," he said, carrying her over to a desk. "You know the fucking drill."

Jacky wobbled her way out of the Memorial after, shooting dirty looks at Jericho the whole time. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, of course he did, and she had to pull herself together and talk to her dad.

And, fuck, someone told him about Megaton. Jesus Christ, she _deserved_ to get fucked by that impressionable asshole on a regular basis. Like some kind of punishment for her bad deeds.

* * *

...Jacky sat with her back to the wall of the tunnel. She'd already cried as much as she could over this shit. Jericho was starting to give her looks, like maybe he thought she wasn't as fucking tough as she was. But he hadn't just _lost_ his father, and he was old enough to _be_ her father. He knew how to handle grief... or at least how not to get attached. Jacky didn't, so she sat with her back to the tunnel and stared blankly ahead.

Dr. Li was saying something. Jacky didn't listen. Wasn't like she could hear anything over the pounding blood in her head. She didn't even know how long she sat like that, until Jericho pulled her up and smacked her in the face.

"Get _up,_ let's _go,"_ he said. "No bitching. We gotta get out of this fucking tunnel."

"Yeah, okay," she muttered, and slowly began to walk toward the end of the tunnel.

"Kid, you're gonna get me killed," he was muttering.

"No, I won't," she said, softly. "I haven't got anyone left. Can't lose you, too."

"Gee, and here I was thinking we was being _professional_ about this shit." He grunted and opened fire on a band of Enclave soldiers.

Jacky debated on showing him what she meant―she really didn't have anyone left, even if he was a nasty old man who persisted in making her life torturous. But she didn't have time to prove herself. She could only return the Enclave's fire and make her way through the tunnels.

Maybe it was a good thing her dad had died. ...She hadn't done him proud in her entire life. She wasn't going to continue doing so, either.


	7. Here's to You, Kid

Note: This ending kind of sneaked up on me. Ah well. Jericho you rat bastard :D As always, smut warning. Eww.

Update: Minor continuity issue, fixed it. sigh

* * *

Ended up in some fortress of a kind, licking boot just to get inside. Didn't sit with Jericho; he was already pissed about the kid being all fucked up after her dad dying. Shit, he was glad he hadn't shot the wuss. If she was gonna act like she was about it, it would have been a real shitty situation.

Some bald fuck in a dress was telling her he needed to get some shit out of a Vault, and she dashed off to use a computer. While she was gone, Jericho sat himself on the stairs and lit a cigarette. Some idiot tried to tell him not to smoke in the room and he ignored it, staring up at the giant robot.

Kid came back and spoke with the baldy again, then shook his hand and walked over to him. "Ass end of the wastes, again," she said, blankly. "You up for it?"

"Where _now?"_ he groaned.

"Some place called Little Lamplight." She rubbed her face, smearing blood onto her cheek from the tunnel encounters.

Jericho grinned. "You look good, Kid."

Kid blanched and backed up a few steps. She didn't say anything, just kept a hand on her gun. His guess was she thought he was gonna drag her off and do her again. He wasn't that much of an asshole... well, he _was,_ but shit, he knew better. Not in this fucking place, that was for sure. He grinned wider, and chuckled a little.

He removed himself from the stairs and stretched out. "Yeah, alright," he said. "Let's go get your Gecko thing."

"G.E.C.K.," she said. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to."

"You still _owe_ me," he grinned, and came up behind her. "So why the fuck not?"

"Whatever," she muttered.

* * *

It wasn't a good trip. Kid was still all mopey and shit, didn't even enjoy having sex. Jericho gave up after they'd reached Andale. She'd unearthed the two families' secret basement full of butchered bodies and fridges. Jericho had been hungry enough, he got the idea. Didn't mean he was that hungry now, but he did get excited around the amount of blood and gore.

Kid let him throw her on the counter and wail on her for a few minutes, but she wasn't into it. Jericho didn't like that. Without her encouragement or at least her protests, it was like having sex with a dead person.

Jericho didn't fuck no corpses. He wasn't _that_ fucked up.

"The fuck is your _problem?"_ he asked her, balls deep in her. She sighed and shrugged, and crossed her arms. "Goddamn, Kid, you're making this really fucking hard."

"I'm not that into dead things," she muttered, and he knew she was still thinking about her dad.

"Jesus _Christ,"_ he growled. He left her on the counter, and stalked off.

They continued the trip, out into the west. At some point later, she detoured off the road and walked out into the wastes for a moment. Jericho didn't follow, he figured she needed the time off from his brilliant personality. Might improve her outlook on this whole thing. When she returned, he was sitting on a rock and smoking a cigarette.

"You know how I said I can't lose you?" she said, her voice small.

"Yeah," he answered, tossing the butt. "What of it."

"I... think I need to go on, alone, for a little while."

"Whatever, Kid." Jericho stood up. "You wanna play like that, it's _fine._ I can't help you." He shouldered his rifle and walked away. _Damn._ He was gonna miss that tight little pussy.

On a lark, he blew up a few cars. Wasn't the same, though, without her grinning face and glowing eyes watching the carnage. Jericho swore to himself. Whatever it was about the Kid he liked, he needed it bad. Hoped she got her shit together by the time she came back, begging. She would. She was that kind.

He camped outside of Megaton for a while. There wasn't anywhere else he could go, and other than the occasional feral ghoul, most people stayed the hell away from the place.

Fuck _him,_ though. He was missing the kid. She was something _else._

* * *

Kid showed back up a few weeks later, stumbling through the wreckage of the shithole. Jericho had been sitting on a rock, scratching a radiation burn on his hand. Learned the hard way not to fucking go digging around through an irradiated ruin for caps. He found a handful, but it was a moot point; damn things were melted.

"Jericho," she said, coming up to his rock and staring at him.

"Hey, Kid." He spat and slid down. "What's up."

"Ready to go with me again?" she asked. "Got a big plan."

"You back to your cheerful self again?" he asked, and looked down at her head. Someone had chopped up her hair. She had an orange halo of fuzz all around, not more than a few inches off her scalp. "Fuck you do to your hair?"

"Not me," she said, sullenly. "We're going to go take back the purifier."

He scratched his hand again and stared at her. "Shit, thought you gave up on all that."

"I had... an _enlightening_ conversation with our president," she said, and looked out at the wreckage of Megaton. "Suffice to say, I've decided to make a real change in this world. Let's go."

"Thank Christ. I thought I was gonna grow a fourth arm sitting next to all this fucking radiation." He grinned at her, slowly.

Kid grabbed his leather jacket and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Jericho looked down at the orange head and grimaced. "What the fuck, Kid."

"Nothing," she muffled. "I _missed_ you."

"Aw, poor baby," he mocked, and laid a hand on her shoulder. She said nothing, just clutched him tighter.

Fuck, he _did_ miss her. As weird as it was.

* * *

Kid led him back to the Citadel, and they booted up that goddamn robot after a long and really boring conversation. Jericho followed Kid out to the front door and then walked with her behind the robot as it blew shit up left and right. _Damn._ It was fucking impressive. He wasn't gonna fuck with no Brotherhood after this, that was for sure.

Made their way out to the Memorial and shot a shit ton of Enclave. Robot wasn't moving much after it hit that glowing barrier. Shit exploding left and right, fuck, it was a real head rush.

Jericho whistled at the Kid and grinned real big at her when she turned her head to look at him. Some of that fire was back in her eyes, some sparkle deep down inside. Yeah, it was gonna be a good ride, if they made it out alive.

Bodies all over the fucking place. Jericho kicked a dismembered arm and looked to the kid. "We gonna go knock on the door or _what?"_

"Let's just get this over with," she said, her voice serious. "You coming with?"

"Why you gotta keep asking, Kid," he grumbled. "I'd follow your ass into the world's end, for fuck's sake."

She musta heard him, too, because she grinned like she used to and that sparkle in her eyes caught fire. _Yeah, that's the fucking ticket._ Back to her crazy bitch self. Jericho felt a hell of a lot better about that one, knowing he'd at least made that alright.

He heard a click and ducked to the side as she tossed a grenade down into a room, blowing the shit out of a couple of soldiers. Jericho caught her up before she went into the room, and held her against the wall, chewing on her neck. "Goddamn, Kid," he said, around the mouthfuls. "I _missed_ that."

"Me too," she whispered, and pulled his face up to hers. "I'll make it up."

"You fucking _better,"_ he said, and ground himself into her, grinning. She grinned back and just about smothered him in a kiss, shoving her tongue down his throat. _Ugh, shit._ She wasn't good at that. He'd have to hole her up in the suite and give her a real fucking good lesson.

"Come on," she grunted. "We've got to finish this shit. _After."_

Jericho's hands had been traveling up under her leather―there was nothing exciting there but he hadn't touched her in so long he was missing any and every part of her. He removed them abruptly and dropped her to the floor, scowling. "Alright, fuck. Take away my _fun."_

"Goddamn, man," she said, sitting up on the floor. "Thought you _liked_ shooting people."

"I do." He grinned at her and grabbed his crotch, eye-level with her. "I like _other_ things better."

She scoffed and stood, retrieving her weapon. They swept through the room, looking around for more enemies, then Kid opened the door to the Rotunda. They stepped inside to face down some arrogant bastard in a trenchcoat.

He started talking but Kid wasn't having it. She pulled her shitty little pistol and delivered him some wasteland-style repartee with a bullet to the brain pan, and Jericho grinned despite himself. Goddamn, he really had missed the kid.

A couple of soldiers put up little resistance despite their power armor, and that blonde bitch in power armor from GNR was talking to someone on an intercom. Jericho wasn't really paying much attention; there was too much shaking and rattling in the rafters for him to listen to everything that was being said.

Kid took over, listened to the intercom, and looked over at him. "Hey," she said. _"Jericho."_

"What, Jesus, get it _done_ already." The roof wasn't gonna hold much longer if something didn't get done, even he knew that.

"Whatever happens, you'll remember me?" she asked.

Jericho turned his eyes onto her with an audible snap. "The _fuck_ you going on about?"

"What do you think, you cocksucker!" She sighed and smiled and her eyes were glowing but he didn't like it. Not this time. This time was _different._

"You'll _remember_ me, won't you?"

"Yeah, Kid, I couldn't forget." He glanced up at the roof, bits of plaster coming down on them. "Better get this shit figured out. I won't be able to fuck you good if I get brained by _a goddamn metal beam!"_

Kid nodded. "Goodbye," she whispered, and inserted something into a panel inside the purifier. She walked through the airlock and entered a code, and held her hand up to Jericho.

The place exploded. The last thing he remembered seeing was her face as the explosion began, and being so fucking turned on by the look she had across that freckled mess of pale skin.

Man, shit hit the _fucking fan!_

* * *

Jericho didn't remember much about what happened after the purifier. Kid was in a coma, probably wasn't gonna wake up. _Shit._ But shit always happened in the wastes, even if that shit was sometimes as insane as Kid was.

He sort of drifted about for a while, looking for something to do with himself other than drinking himself into a stupor every night. Kid's money was all he had to support himself and she didn't even know she was footing the bill. He laughed about it, but he knew she'd probably shove a pineapple up his ass or something if she did wake up.

But she _wasn't_ gonna. He knew that.

He found himself wandering around the Museum of Technology again, before he decided to put her out of his head for good. Looked at the shit she found so interesting, then went and sat in the planetarium. Blew up a few mutants for old times' sake.

Fuck him. It really fucking sucked that he'd found someone to run with who actually enjoyed his favorite _hobbies,_ only to have her be gone because she was fulfilling some family legacy. Jericho looked down at the bottle of Aqua Pura in his hands, and shrugged.

"Here's to you, Kid," he said, and downed the whole bottle.

 _Fuck._ Clean waters tasted like _shit!_

* * *

END


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